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The Editorial

Indiana Jones & the chapel of rest

There is a great motorbike chase.

John Benton, Editor

Figure Image

It is in the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Set in the late 1950s, professor of archaeology Dr Jones is riding pillion, chased by Soviet agents, as his young companion roars through the streets. Looking for a way to escape the Russian cars, they ride the bike into the university library (Yale?). As students scatter they swerve and skid under some tables, finally coming to rest in front of a geeky archaeology student who, unruffled, looks up from his book and proceeds to ask Dr Jones about a question that is bothering him. The professor answers, referring him to another learned author, and then remounts the motorcycle ready for a quick getaway. As they disappear from the library Dr Jones shouts back to the students something that has always stuck with me: ‘If you want to be a good archaeologist you’ve got to get out of the library!’ In other words you need to do some field work, you’ve got to see what’s out there and make some findings.